F 153 
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P 159 
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HISTORICAL NOTES 



APPROPRIATE TO THE VISIT 



OF THE 



U. S. Scout Cruiser Chester 




TO THE 



CITY OF CHESTER, PENNA. 



November 27th— December 1st, 1909 



Prepared by the Historical Committee. 



Press of Chester Times. 




Gass /^/jf 

Rook dr^s 



HISTORICAL NOTES 



APPROPRIATE TO THE VISIT 



OF THE 



U. S. Scout Cruiser Chester 




TO THE 



CITY OF CHESTER, PENNA. 



November 27th~-December 1st, 1909 



Prepared by the Historical Committee. 



HISTORICAL COMMITTEE 



Henry Graham Ashmead, Chairman 

Hon. William B Broom all 

Gen. Henry Clay Cochrane 

W. Shaler Johnson 

Charles Palmer 

John J. Hare 

Dr. John Hoskins 

W. J. Arnold 

H. A. Fairlamb 

Harry McGilligan 

And the following four ladies representing the 
Delaware County Chapter, Daughters of the 
American Revolution : 

Mrs. Richard Peters, Jr. 

Mrs. James A. G. Campbell 

Miss Sallie Flickwir 

Mrs. R. Somers Rhodes 



D. OF D. 

DEC t> 1909 



CHESTER IN CONNECTION WITH 

THE U. S. NAVY, AND EVENTS 

ON THE DELAWARE. 

To commemorate the visit of the Scout Cruiser Ches- 
ter to the ancient city for which she is named, a Historical 
Committee was appointed and it has occurred to them that 
some account of Chester's identification with the Navy of 
the United States and with Revolutionary incidents would 
be most appropriate. Although but a very small town, hav- 
ing less than one thousand inhabitants at the time, Chester 
is found to have figured quite prominently in the British 
occupation of Philadelphia, and to have contributed many 
officers to the Navy since, among them the first two full ad- 
mirals — Farragut and Porter — both of whom played in our 
streets as boys. Later on, as the town grew larger, other 
citizens entered the naval service and many ships of war 
were launched from our shores, Roach's shipyard, where 
they were constructed, becoming of world-wide reputation. 
Record of John Fitch's early trips in his steamboat, ante- 
dating Hudson by seventeen years, is also included in this 
record, as she made regular trips to Chester. 

THE POLLY. 

The first incident connecting the port of Chester with 
the coming troubles of the American Revolution was on 
Saturday, Christmas day, 1773, when the detested and much 
advertised tea-ship. "Polly," reached Chester, she having 
followed another ship up the river, for no pilot dared, in 
the heated condition of the people's mind in Philadelphia 
and the surrounding territory, to bring that vessel to the 
port of her destination. As soon as the Whigs of Chester 
were convinced that the ship wjth the peculiarly discolored 
sails, laying off the town, was the ''Polly," a messenger was 
dispatched post haste to Philadelphia to announce the long- 



expected, but unwelcome news. Gilbert Barclay, one of 
the consignees of the ship's cargo, who was a passenger 
aboard the "Polly," landed at Chester, where, procuring a 
conveyance, he was driven to Philadelphia. The excitement 
in Philadelphia when the news reached there of the arrival 
of the tea ship, is part of the history of the Revolution and 
the City of Brotherly Love. Three of the Committee were 
appointed to come to Chester to have an interview with 
Captain Ayres, and acquaint him with the public feeling 
respecting his voyage and the cargo with which his vessel 
was laden. The three gentlemen, when they reached the 
high land on the King's Highway, at wdiat is now Prospect 
Park, met a messenger from Chester, bringing the informa- 
tion that the "Polly," at noon on Sunday, had weighed an- 
chor and stood up the river. It is unnecessary to continue 
the story of the "Polly" in detail, how she lay off Glouces- 
ter, how Captain Ayres went to the city of Philadelphia, 
how eight thousand men assembled at the State House yard 
Monday morning and resolved that the tea should not be 
landed, that the vessel should not be reported nor entered at 
that port and that the tea must be taken back to England 
immediately, time only being permitted to provision the 
vessel for her return voyage across the sea ; how a pilot was 
placed on the "Polly" and carried her down to Reedy Island, 
and how permission w^as given to Captain Ayres to remain 
in Philadelphia twenty-four hours, to procure the supplies 
for his return voyage. On Tuesday, Captain Ayres, after 
being in the city forty-six hours, came by land to Chester, 
where he boarded the dinkey carrying supplies to the "Pol- 
ly," and like a prudent man, sailed for London, where later 
he reported the unsatisfactory results of his voyage. On 
February 5, 1774, showing that the "Polly" had made a 
quick homeward run, Earl Dartmouth wrote to Governor 
Penn, that "the Insult that has been offered to the Kingdom 
by the Inhabitants of Philadelphia, in the case of the "Pol- 
ly," Captain Ayres, is of a very serious nature, and leads to 
very important consequences." In conclusion the Earl de- 
manded that "a Circumstance, which at present Appears so 
extraordinary, shall be fully explained." But his Lordship's 
demand has remained unexplained to this day, so far as 
the records disclose the facts. But it was at Chester where 



Captain Ayres first stepped ashore from the "Polly," and it 
was at Chester he left Pennsylvania on his return voyage 
to London. 

PHILADELPHIA IN BRITISH HANDS. 

When Philadelphia fell into the control of the British 
Army, September 25, 1777, Gen. Howe sent a messenger 
to notify the English fleet, which was then collected off 
Chester, that he had taken possession of the city. On Oc- 
tober 6, Commodore Hazelwood, in command of the Penn- 
sylvania Navy, that still held the river above Chester, came 
down and attacked the smaller English vessels just above 
this town, with the result that the ships retired and lay off 
in the stream, before and below Chester, where nine of His 
Majesty's ships of war, were then moored, and the same day 
the Forty-second and the Tenth British Regiments, with 
two howitzers and two mortars, marched from Chester to 
Philadelphia to protect a large quantity of provisions which 
had been landed at the old Market street wharf, for the use 
of the British troops then holding Philadelphia by force 
of arms. The Continental authorities were still relying on 
the protection afforded by the Chevaux-de-frise, being whol- 
ly ignorant at that time that Robert White, who had been 
employed to sink the obstructions had designedly left the 
channel near the Pennsylvania side above Chester, open. 
Yet so hazardous was the approach to Philadelphia by the 
river held by the enemy, that during the w'hole time the 
British held possession of the city, most of the British ves- 
sels lay in the stream below the Horseshoe, making the 
town of Chester the port where the supplies for the King's 
forces were disembarked. On Octobr 31, 1777, Captain 
Montressor, Chief Engineer of the British Army, wrote: 
"We have just now an army without provisions, a Rum 
artillery for Beseiging, scarce any ammunition, no clothing, 
nor any money. Somewhat dejected by Burgoyne's Capit- 
ulation, and not elated with our late Manoeuvers as Dunlop 
repulse," (at Red Bank) "and the 'Augustas' and 'Merlin' 
"being burnt and to complete all Blockaded." On October 27, 
Gen. Potter, of Pennsylvania Militia, reported that "sixty 
ships of the enemy were lying at and below Chester." On 



November i8th, Lord Cornwallis, with the 5th. 15th, 17th, 
33d Reg-iments, a battalion of Hessians and the Light In- 
fantry, with 12 pieces of artillery and several howitzers and 
a train of baggage wagons, in all nearly three thousand men, 
and so many were the boats and stages of the British ves- 
sels at Chester that in a few hours the entire force was 
transported across the river to New Jersey, in the advance 
to Billingsport. The next day, Major John Clark, who had 
been detailed from General Greene's staff by Washington — 
without the knowledge of Greene, who looked on Clark as a 
deserter — on secret service, wrote that from Mrs. W^ithy's 
tavern the "Plow and Harrow," at Fifth and Market streets, 
where is now the Cambridge Trust Company building, he 
had watched Cornwallis march through the town' and that 
eighty British vessels lay off this place. Captain Montres- 
sor's diary shows that in most instances the British vessels 
ascended the Delaware no higher than Chester. On Novem- 
ber 21, 1777, he wTites : "This morning sailed from Ches- 
ter despatches for New York.'' On April 8, 1778, he re- 
cords : "Airrived the 'Brune' frigate at Chester, having 
sprung her mainmast in the late Gale and also the Tris,' 
ship of war, with 8 transports, part of 12 separated in ye 
Gale." On the 22nd. he continues : "This day arrived at 
Chester a fleet of 35 sail from New York, with forage, 
etc. Also arrived the ''Eagle" (the flag-ship) "with Lord 
Howe." On the 28th, he writes: "The 'Lord Hyde' 
Packet, only sailed from Chester this morning," and on May 
7, 1778, he records, "The 'Porcupine,' sloop-of-war. ar- 
rived at Chester this evening from England, where she left 
25th of March last." Joseph Bishop, an old resident of Del- 
aware county, stated that when a boy he had stood on the 
porch at Lamokin Hall — later known as the Perkin's man- 
sion — and watched the British fleet practicing and on sev- 
eral occasions when receiving distinguished personages the 
yards were manned and the vessels gaily dressed with many 
flags and streamers. Even Gen. Howe, when relie\-ed from 
the command of the King's forces in America, came by 
land to Chester, and ^lay 26, 1778. Montressor writes: 
"Early this morning sailed from below Billingsport for 
England the 'Andromeda' frigate. Brine, commander, in 
which went Sir William Howe." 



BRITISH INHUMANITY TO CHESTERIANS. 

While Chester was held by the British authority during 
the late fall and winter of 1777-8, many acts of wanton in- 
humanity are recorded as perpetrated by their foraging par- 
ties. The marine sei'vice was more objectionable in that 
respect than the army and many cases are recorded of their 
brutality. 

David Coupland, a man of advanced years, but a pro- 
nounced advocate of the cause of the Colonists/ at that time 
resided on the west side of Market, the third door south 
of Fourth, or Middle, street, as it was then known. Pre- 
vious to the battle of Brandywine he had entertained the 
Marcjuis de Lafayette at his house, and that, with other 
things, had caused him to become very obnoxious to the 
Tories of the neighborhood, of whom there were a num- 
ber. Hence, when the British authority was temporarily 
supreme, he was held under suspicion of communicating 
with the Continental authorities. In the spring of 1788. 
when the "Vulture," a British man-of-war, lay off Chester, 
in the middle of the night, a boat's crew came ashore, and, 
going to David Coupland's dwelling he was taken out of 
bed and conveyed to the \-essel, where he was detained for 
many weeks a prisoner. His ag"e, as well as the anxiety 
consequent on his enforced detention from home, his inabil- 
ity to learn aught of his family, the exposure and harsh 
treatment he was subjected to, finally induced a low, ner- 
vous fever. At length, when the disease began to assume 
alarming symptoms, the commander of the "Vulture" had 
him conveyed ashore and returned to his home. But it 
was without avail. He lingered until some time in the fol- 
lowing August, when he died, the people of the town never 
doubting, as the result of the brutal treatment he had been 
subjected to during his captivity. 

Earlier in the same year Captain John Crosby, of the 
Pennsylvania Militia in the Continental service, was cap- 
tured in his home. Crosby Place — the old mansion still 
stands on the north side of the road, where the old King's 
Highway to Philadelphia crosses Ridley creek^and taken 
on board a British man-of-war, sent to New York and de- 
tained in the old "Jersey" prison-ship for six months. A 



Tory neighbor had told of the captain being at home, and a 
boat's crew from the man-of-war surprised him as Crosby 
w-as at the pump washing his hands. His family had no 
intimation of his whereabouts, and it was not until three or 
four months later that the persistent efforts of his wife 
learned that he was a prisoner on the old hulk in Wallaboat 
Bay, East River. Mrs. Crosby went to New York and af- 
ter repeated failures, succeeded in obtaining her husband's 
release on parole. So extreme were the hardships and pri- 
vations he had undergone, that his hair, which before had 
been dark, had turned to snowy white, and for the remainder 
of his life he suffered from the effects of his six months' de- 
tention in the prison ship "Jersey." 

In the autumn of 1777, when in sheer wantoness the 
British frigate "Augusta" opened fire on the town, the fam- 
ily of Henry Hale Graham — then living in the house at 
Edgmont avenue and Graham street, still standing but 
greatly altered for business purposes, to which it is now ap- 
plied — sought safety in the cellar, and tradition reports that 
one of the solid shots struck the building, doing consider- 
able damage to the southern end of the structure. 

It was during the same wholly unjustifiable cannonad- 
ing that the Francis Richardson Mansion — now the Steam- 
boat Hotel — was struck by one of the balls, shattering the 
wall in the south gable end towards the river. The owner, 
in repairing the breach, placed circular windows in the north 
and south gables, an addition which the people of the day 
said, was a noticeable improvement to the appearance of 
the dwelling. 

FIRST NAiVAL CONSTRUCTION. 

In the summer of 1778, ]\Ianuel Eyre, at the instance 
of the State authorities, located a regular 'Station at Ches- 
ter for the building of gunboats, small vessels designed to 
carry one or more guns, and with crews who numbered 
from ten to twenty men. It is told by tradition that in 
order to conceal these vessels while building, the yard was 
located on Ship creek, then a stream of considerable size, the 
woods acting as screens to prevent any British, vessel-of-war 
on the river from seeing what work was underway there. 

8 



It is said that one of the boats built there was much larger 
than the others and when finished and brought down to the 
old drawbridge crossing Chester creek at the King's High- 
way — now Third street, it was found that the boat was too 
wide to pass between the draw, hence, it was broken up and 
the timbers used for other purposes. 

CAPTURE OF THE GENERAL MONK. 

It was late in the afternoon of April loth, 1782, that 
the good people of Chester of that day saw two vessels 
standing up the river. The foremost floated two ensigns, 
the stars and stripes being displayed on the same halyard 
with the meteoric flag of Great Britain, but the last was 
undermost. The intelligence ran quickly through the town 
and in a short time a crowd had collected on Richardson's 
wharf, for the news was that Capt. Joshua Barney, who had 
sailed from Philadelphia on the 8th in the Hyder All, had 
met and captured the English vessel of war, General Monk, 
that had been lying at the mouth of the Delaware, a terror 
to all the merchants of Philadelphia, as well as to the own- 
ers at lesser ports along the river. When the ships rounded 
to and lay by the pier, a gang plank was run out from the 
General Monk and Captain Barney came ashore, followed 
by four seamen, bearing a stretcher on which lay Captain 
Rodgers, of the Royal Navy, grievously wounded. The 
English ofticer was taken to the house of a Quaker lady, 
who nursed him for several months before he entirely re- 
covered from his injuries. It is to be regretted that the 
name of this lady is not recalled in the annals of Chester, 
but, the biography of Commodore Barney, published in 
183 1, states that she was then alive, and removed to Phil- 
adelphia, where she resided, a woman well in years, on Pine 
street. 

While it is not necessary to relate the well-known story 
of that fight, in which American strategy and American 
accuracy in firing, had overcome the enemy. At Chester, 
the crowd was busy in pointing out to each other the many 
scars of the battle the captured vessel exhibited, and gazed 
with amazement at the mizzen staysail, in which small can- 
vas alone could be counted no less than 365 shot holes. 



Groups gathered 'round some of the Hyder AH's men- and 
hstened to the story of the fight and how, in twenty-six 
minutes, twenty-three' broadsides had been fired by the 
American ship, and how, when the battle ended, every ofii- 
cer on board the British vessel except one midshipman, had 
been killed or wounded, and the casualties among the crew 
and marines were near one hundred, while on the American 
four had been killed and eleven wounded. "The men be- 
hind the guns," under Uncle Sam's ensign, were as capable 
then as they proved themselves to be a century and a quar- 
ter later in the Spanish-American War. 

• JOHN FITCH'S STEAMBOAT. 

Eight years later, in June, 1790, the people of Ches- 
ter were astonished to learn that a marvelous craft, vomit- 
ing volumes of black smoke from a pipe amidships, was in 
a direct line, and against the wind, coming down the river, 
making for the pier at the foot of Market street. It was 
John Fitch's steamboat — the first vessel of that description 
ever successfully navigated in the world — se\'enteen years 
before Robert Fulton built his celebrated steamboat. The 
Clermont. The people of the town who gathered at the 
wharf to inspect this peculiar vessel — which had no name 
other than "the Steamboat" — when it was made fast at the 
pier, saw a mere cockle-shell, sixty feet in length, eight feet 
beam, for which po-K-er was supplied by an eighteen-inch 
cylinder engine, and the propulsion was made by four pad- 
dles, two on each side, located at the stern. The wonder 
obtained an average speed of eight miles an hour. In the 
New York Magazine for the year 1790 appeared a letter 
dated at Philadelphia, August 13th, in which the writer 
says: "On Saturday morning she sets off for Chester and 
engages to return in the evening — 40 miles," and .adds, 
"God willing, I intend to be one of her passengers." In the 
Federal Gazette, published at Philadelphia in its issue of 
July 30, 1790, appeared an advertisement, informing the 
public that "The Steamboat sets our from Arch street wharf 
on Sun(la^^ morning at 8 o'clock, for Chester, to return the 
same day." During the months of June. July. August and 
September, 1790, this boat made regular trips carrying 



10 



freight and passeng-ers — one day to Wilmington and re- 
turning, another day to Burhngton and Bristol, but to Ches- 
ter always on Sunday, for Chester at that time for some 
rsason was an exceedingly attractive locality for the rest- 
less public of Philadelphia. At the end of the season the 
boat became disabled, the machinery being defective, and 
Fitch, a man of limitd means, was not able to pay for the 
repairs necessary, while the men who had advanced the 
money for the construction of the boat had grown tired of 
an experiment which had yielded no financial return. The 
steamboat therefore was sold to discharge the outstanding 
debts, and this resulted — the engine and boiler were sold for 
old junk. 

THE PORTER FAMILY. 

To the people of Chester and Delaware county the 
story of the Porters is as familiar as household words. For 
five generations, in colonial times, in the Revolutionary 
struggle, in the French difficulties, in the second war with 
Great Britain, in the subjugation of the pirates of the Gulf, 
in the Mexican and in the great Civil War, the records of 
the "Fighting Porters" stand forth conspicuously in the 
annals of our country. 

The home of the Porters sixty years ago was one of the 
most attractive and noted places on the Delaware river. A 
Colonial mansion, a short distance east of the Market street 
wharf, where the steamboats landed, embowered by tow- 
ering forest trees, while along the river bank, the well-kept 
shrubbery and velvet lawn reached down to a sea wall, ap- 
propriately entitled it to the name it bore — Greenbank. The 
old dwelling which resembled that at Mount Vernon in its 
general architecture, was erected by the Great Chief Justice 
of Colonial Pennsylvania, David Lloyd, in 1721. It was in 
18 1 6— although David Porter and Evelina Anderson Por- 
ter, his wife, had their home at Greenbank since 1809 — that 
Major William Anderson, in consideration of the natural 
love and affection which they — he and his wife — "have and 
bear for their son-in-law, the said David Porter, as well as 
in consideration of one dollar" conveyed to Commodore 
Porter in fee, the Greenbank mansion house and four acres 

1 1 



of ground surrounding it. It was here Porter came after 
war clouds drifted by in the fall of 1814. 

It was about noonday of March 11, 1813, that the 
American 32-gun frigate Essex, Capt. David Porter com- 
manding;, reached Chester and announced the glorious vic- 
tory in which .the British frigate Castor, outnumbering in 
guns and men the Essex, had been compelled to strike her 
colors to the valiant seaman, whose heroic deeds are part 
of the national history, and have imparted lustre tO' the place 
of his residence — -this city. The people of the town, even 
those who were ad\'erse to the war, were enthusiastic at the 
W'Clcomed news, for in the glory of the officer so well-known 
to them all, they felt each of them a personal pride. Aaron 
Cobourn, then postmaster of Chester, in dispatching the 
mail that afternoon by stage to Philadelphia, endorsed as a 
IX)Stscript to the way bill, which by regulation was then re- 
quired to accompany each mail sent out from an office, a 
brief statement of Captain Porter's arrival, the capture of 
the "Castor," and the fact that the loss on the British ves- 
sel had been enormous — 150 men of the English frigate 
had been killed and wounded. The news of the victoty was 
published in the Freeman's Journal, of Philadelphia, the 
next day and from its columns was copied by the press 
throughout the entire country. 

Years afterwards, when the old Commodore, David 
Porter, died near Constantinople, his body very properly 
was brought to this country in the United States brig Trux- 
ton, for it was under old Commodore Thomas Truxton, 
that Porter first attracted public attention. The vessel 
reached Chester January 22,, 1844, and as a mark of respect, 
lay at anchor for a day off the old homestead, "Greenbank," 
and many of the residents of the old town took advantage 
of that day to board the vessel and gaze at the casket of 
the dead man, who, for many years, had made Chester his 
home and where many of his children were born. 

The Porter boys inherited from their grand sire, Cap- 
tain David Porter, of the Revolutionary Navy, that temer- 
ity which he exhibited in his escape from the Jersey prison 
ship in an empty water cask, and from their father, the old 
Commodore, impetuous courage, as shown by him in a 
hundred ways during his eventful career. It is not too 

12 



much to say that the history of the United States does not 
present a family that has done more to shed lustre on the 
American naval annals than did the fighting Porters of 
Pennsylvania. 

ADMIRA/L FARRAGUT. 

It was at Greenbank where the Sea King David Glas- 
coe Farragut passed his boyhood days ashore. He had been 
adopted by Commodore Porter before he was ten years 
old and as a boy of thirteen had shared the triumph of Por- 
ter in the x\tlantic and his defeat in the Pacific, when, in 
the Bay of Valparaiso, he had been compelled to strike his 
flag to the Phoebe and Cherub, in an unequal battle, that 
added lustre to the stars and stripes, which had gone down 
in a struggle against overwhelming odds. The young boy's 
commandi-g officer had eulogized the lad midshipman's 
bravery and conduct in his official report, giving as a rea- 
son that he had not recommended Farragut for promotion 
because "he was too young," to be advanced to place in 
which greater responsibilities would be cast upon him. W. 
H. Davenport Adams, an Englishman, in his "Farragut 
and Other Great Commanders," tells us that in the autumn 
of 1814, "through the good offices of Capt. David Porter, 
Farrgut, who had been baptized David, after the commo- 
dore, was placed in a school at the pleasant little town of 
Chester, Pennsylvania." It was in the old school house at 
Fifth and Welsh streets, erected in 1770, and torn down in 
1870, under the tutorage of Samuel Lytle, an Irishman, 
that the future Admiral Farragut was a pupil for a brief 
period, later Captain Porter sent him to the School at Vil- 
lage Green, Aston township, Delaware county, which Jos- 
eph Neef, a Frenchman, had established there, where the 
instruction was according to that employed in the noted 
Pestallozzi system of Switzerland, where he remained for 
several years, interrupted by brief sea duty. Only a few 
years ago, several of the young girls of that day who lived 
to be elderly ladies, could recall the David G. Farrag-ut of 

1 • 1 

their youth, as a slender, homely-faced, under-sized young 
chap, who held himself very erect and who wore a stiff 
stock to support his chin that he might take advantage of 
every inch of stature that nature had given him. 

13 



Farragut was promoted to lieutenant at 17, and his 
subsequent history is well known. He was wont to say- 
that what he learned in Chester had lasted him "all through 
life." He was born in 1801 and died at the Portsmouth, 
N. H., Navy Yard in 1870. Xo one in Chester could 
have known that the little midshipman who played around 
Aunt Polly Engle's tavern on Third street near the bridge 
was destined to become the country's most famous admiral. 

WILLIAM DIXON PORTER, Captain Porter's 
eldest son, was the only one of his children not born at 
"Greenbank." William was born at Xew Orleans, when 
Porter was stationed there, and at a time when his father 
was seriously considering whether it would not be advis- 
able for him to abandon the naval service for that of the 
merchant marine. When 16 he was a midshipman and had 
gradually risen in rank until at the approach of the Civil 
War he was a captain and in command of the sloop-of-war ' 
St. Mary, on the Pacific station. His loyalty to the flag was 
unjustly suspected for no other reason than that his birth 
had been in the far South, although all his youth had been 
spent in Chester. He was, however, assigned to duty on 
the Mississippi and placed in command of the iron-clad Es- 
sex, and took part in the attack on Fort Henry, Feb. 6, 1862. 
In that engagement just as victory was assured a ball from 
the Confederate fort plunged through the boiler of the Es- 
sex and the escaping steam scalded Porter so severely that 
he ultimately died from its efifects. When told that the 
day was won Porter rallied, and "raising himself on his el- 
bow called for three cheers and gave two himself, falling 
exhausted on the mattress in his effort to give a third." 
Notwithstanding his feeble health, he returned to duty, ran 
the batteries between Cairo and New Orleans and on August 
6, 1862, attacked the rebel ram Arkansas, and despite her 
great superiority in armament and men, destroyed her. He 
assisted in the attack on Port Hudson, but by this time he 
had grown physically so weak that he was ordered to New 
York on sick leave, where he died May i, 1864. 



14 



A PERILOUS TRIP. 

Theodoric Porter, the third son, was noted for 
his enormous bodily strength. In the summer of 1835, 
when only 17, he swam from Greenwich Point to Chester, 
about fifteen miles, and more than forty years elapsed before 
any one was able to accomplish the like feat. The winter 
of 1833-34 was severely cold and for several weeks in the 
latter part of January and the beginning of February, the 
Delaware had been full of great blocks of floating ice. One 
evening in a store in the town a gentleman stated that on 
the Hudson and in many of the Eastern States, sleighing on 
the ice was a recognized winter pleasure. To the amaze- 
ment of all gathered in the shop, Theodoric announced his 
purpose to sleigh to the old Navy Yard at Philadelphia the 
next day, if the ice permitted, and his brother, Hamilton, a 
stripling of fourteen, declared that he would accompany 
Theodoric on his journey. The next morning, for the tid- 
ings that the boys contemplated the journey had been 
noised abroad over the town, a goodly number of persons 
assembled at Greeiibank — Capt. David Porter w^as absent 
from home — several coming to urge the lads to abandon 
their perilous attempt. The previous night had been in- 
tensely cold, so much so that the river was frozen solidly 
with a rough, jagged surface, from shore to shore, and a 
slight sprinkle of snow covered the ice and land. All ef- 
forts to have the Porter boys abandon their purpose were 
unavailing. About 9 o'clock the horse was harnessed to 
a cutter, and Theodoric, his brother, Hamilton, at his side, 
drove to the foot of \Velsh street, then known as "Love 
Lane," where striking the animal smartly with the whip, it 
sprang upon the ice and the rash ride had begun. The sud- 
den hard frost had arrested the running ice at the mouths 
of Ridley, Crum and Darby creeks, and the pressure piled 
it several feet in height for some distance in the river, hence 
the route taken by the driver was w'ell in the channel, where 
the surface though rough was comparati^'ely level. When 
Tinicum Island was reached the Lazaretto channel was 
followed and the sleigh passed safely Maiden's Bar, the 
mouth of the Schuylkill, and rounded the Horseshoe until 
finally, about mid-day, the driver drew rein alongside the 

15 



Sea Gull, the receivirg ship at the old Philadelphia Navy- 
Yard. The ice in the dock had been broken and the boys 
were compelled to hitch their horse to the ship, for it would 
be possible to get the animal ashore only with great labor. 
The naval officers at the yard gave the sons of the old Com- 
modore a hearty welcome. At three o'clock the Porter boys 
re-entereob'their sleigh. 

All day long the cold had strengthened the ice, while 
the horse, although it had been well fed, was nigh be- 
numbed when Theodoric gathered up the reins for the home 
stretch. The officers of the Yard insisted that the boys 
should abandon the return trip, but as in the morning, the 
suggestion met only an energetic refusal, and the horse was 
headed for Chester. A piercing wind swept from the west 
and in an hour's time the lads were chilled to the marrow, 
so that to prevent being frozen, they approached the shore, 
where they gathered some drift wood that had been thrown 
on the bank by the high tides, and struck a light with flint 
and tinder, and soon had a roaring fire. There they tarried 
for nearly an hour. When they resumed their ride, it was 
under the starlight, and the end of the journey was reached 
at nine o'clock that night. A crowd awaited their coming 
with the utmost anxiety, for the delay of their return had 
given currency to many rumors as to their safety, which 
ran riot through the town. The Porter boys, neither of 
\A'hom was out of his teens, had driven twenty-two miles 
over the breast of the frozen river and had performed a 
daring feat, never before accomplished, so far as all record 
goes, and has never since been accomplished on the Dela- 
W'are. 

FIRST OFFICER KILLED IN MEXICAN WAR. 

Theodoric Porter entered the Army in 1838 as 
a lieutenant in the Seventh U. S. Infantry, and was assigned 
with his regiment to duty at the southwestern boundary of 
the territory, adjoining that part of Mexico which after- 
wards became Texas. At the outbreak of the Mexican ^^^ar, 
on the evening of xA.pril 18, 1846, he, with a detachment 
of ten men, had been sent out from General Taylor's en- 
campment almost three miles from IMatamoras, on scout 

16 



duty. His command was attacked by fifty Mexicans, who 
fired upon the Americans. Porter fell, as did three of his 
men. The others fled. Porter did not die instantly, for 
army officers related that when the bodies of the Lieuteiiant 
and his men were recovered next morning, several dead 
Mexicans were found lying around his corpse, and there 
were indications that, fatally wounded as he was, he had 
made the enemy, that had closed in about him, suffer se- 
verely before he died. The Mexican authorities declared 
that the small body of Americans had been attacked by a 
band of roaming banditti and not by any part of their reg- 
ular troops. Historians have strangely overlooked the fact 
that Theodoric Porter was the first American officer killed 
in the Mexican War. That is usually said to have been 
Lieutenant Mason, killed April 24, 1846, during^ a recon- 
alsance made by Captain Thornton, in which nearly his 
whole force was captured, and Thornton only escaped by 
forcing his horse to an extraordinary leap over a thick 
hedge. Theodoric Porter was slain six days prior to the 
skimiish in which Mason fell, and as he was on duiy when 
attacked by the enemy, it seems clear beyond doubt, that 
Porter was the first officer killed on the American side dur- 
ing that War. Heitman's Directory of the U. S. Arms., 
Vol. I, page 809, gives the date of Porter's death as of the 
19th of April. The body of the slain Lieutenant was for- 
warded to Chester, where it was interred in St. Paul's grave 
yard, and lies there now in an unmarked grave. 

Hamilton F. Porter was appointed a midship- 
man on the L'nited States schooner Fliet. While 
at sea he was taken ill and Lieutenant Davis, in 
command of the vessel, ran into Charleston Harbor to 
obtain medical aid, when it was found that Porter had yel- 
low fever, of which he died August 10, 1844. in his twen- 
ty-third year. He is buried in St. Michael's Episcopal 
churchyard in that city. 

HENRY OGDEN PORTER. 

Henry Ogden Porter, another son, entered the 
navy in 1840, when sixteen, but resigned in 1847. after hav- 
ing seen service in the Mexican War and had been present 

17 



at the bombardment of the Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. He 
entered the Revenue Marine service. In 1856 he was a "fil- 
ibuster," with General William Walker, "the gray-eyed 
man of destiny" in Nicaragua and at the battle of Rivas 
received nearly a dozen musket shot wounds, the effect of 
which were ever afterwards to seriously impair his physi- 
cal activity. When the State of South Carolina seceded, 
Porter, who had returned to the Revenue Service, was at- 
tached tO' the Cutter "Aikeii," in Charleston harbor. When 
that vessel was surrendered by its commander. Captain 
Caste, to the State authorities. Porter was permitted to re- 
turn North, when he volunteered in the Navy and was ap- 
pointed acting master. On January 17, 1863, he was ex- 
ecutive officer of the gunboat Hatteras. \\nien ofif Galves- 
ton he did battle royal with the Confederate cruiser Ala- 
bama. Porter fought his guns until the vessel sank be- 
neath the waters of the Gulf. 

After being exchanged, he was assigned to the Sus- 
quclianna, and was engaged in the two days' battle at Fort 
Fisher, in which that vessel took part. On the return of 
peace, he re-entered the revenue service and died near Bal- 
timore, May 22, 1872. 

ADMIRAL D. D. PORTFR. 

David Dixon Porter was the most distinguished 
son of the Porter family. He was the second child and was 
born in June, 181 3. He was famous for his strength. It 
was said of him that when a lieutenant he would raise a 32- 
pound shot from the ground by seizing it with his hand on 
top. He was appointed a midshipman in 1829 on board of 
the Constellation, a ship that is still in service at the Train- 
ing Station, Newport, R. I. In 1841 he was promoted to 
lieutenant and served with that rank aboard the Congress 
for four years. In 1849 he and several other lieutenants 
of the Navy were granted leave to command vessels of the 
Pacific Mail Steamship Company, where he remained sev- 
eral years. After this he was detailed to go to the Medit- 
erranean to secure a supply of camels to be used in the 
arid regions of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. This ex- 
periment was not wholly successful, but the trans^Dortation 

18 



of the camels was accomplished in the U. S. S. Supply. 
In 1 86 1 he was made a commander and placed in 
charge of the Pcinbcrton, 1 1 guns. In this ship he conduct- 
red a secret expedition to the relief of Fort Pickens, at the 
mouth of Pensacola Bay. There he supervised a mortar.flo- 
tilla of schooners to assist in the reduction of Fort St, Philip 
and Jackson and the Mississippi and spent several months 
"in getting it ready. In April, 1862, he shared with Farra- 
gut the glory of passing the forts and capturing New Or- 
leans after six days of incessant bombardment. We next 
read of Porter commanding the squadron on the Upper Mis- 
sissippi, which grew to number one hundred vessels, and al- 
ways with energy and courag'e. In 1864, he was trans- 
ferred to the North Atlantic fleet and led the operations at 
Fort Fisher, near AVlmington, N. C. For his valuable ser- 
vices during the Rebellion Porter was four times thanked 
by Congress. 

Some of the school boy friends of Admiral David D. 
Porter used to relate his "first baptism of fire" thus. One 
■ Saturday afternoon he and some school-boy friends pur- 
chased several pounds of powder and in the garden near 
the old family mansion made what they called a squib — 
that is, they dug a shallow, narrow trench in the ground, 
which they filled with the powder, depositing the greater 
part of the "villainous saltpetre," at the end in a deeper 
excavation. The trench was to act as a fuse and carry the 
fire to the mine. The ^^■hole was then carefully covered 
with turf. Everything being completed to the boys' ap- 
proval, Dave Porter and Geo. W. Piper got on their hands 
and knees to blow the flame. A moment later the squib ex- 
ploded and the lads were blown with considerable force 
against the fence. The hair on, their heads was burned 
completel}^ off, while the skin of their faces and hands was 
badly blistered. After the Franco-Prussian War, in which 
the Emperor Napoleon gave the phrase world-wide cir- 
culation, when the incident was recalled to Admiral David 
D. Porter's recollection, he laughing-lv said : ''Yes, that 
was my ba^Dtism of fire." 



'&'.' 



19 



REAR ADMIRAL ENGLE AND THE PRINCETON. 

Rear Admiral Frederick Engle was born in Chester 
in 1799, and was 15 when, in 1814 he entered the navy as 
a midshipman, saiHng with Commodore David Porter when 
that officer swept the seas of pirates, particularly in the 
West Indies, and in the many encounters with these ene- 
mies of mankind Midshipman Engle highly distinguished 
himself. Before the Mexican War he had reached the 
grade of Captain. 

It was in the summer of 1845, that the Princeton, the 
first screw propeller in the American service, and the first 
vessel oi war of that type in the history of navies of the 
world, sailed from Philadelphia to take part in the Mexi- 
can War. The steamship was designed by Commodore 
Richard F. Stockton, and was a mangel at that time, al- 
though when compared with the men-of-war of the pres- 
ent she dwarfs into insignificance. Her total length was 
165 feet, breadth 30 feet, and her original cost $212,000. 
She was pierced for 30 guns and carried in addition a large 
swivel on the main deck. She was ship-rigged and her 
maximum speed 10 knots an hour. She had been launched 
at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in the fall of 1843. After 
the bursting of the "Peacemaker," the big swivel gun at 
Washington, D. C, Februarj^ 28, 1844, an accident by 
which many distinguished men lost their lives, spreading 
gloom over the whole country, she was refitted at the old 
Philadelphia Navy Yard. 

It was known in Chester that the Princeton was com- 
ing down the river that summer day of 1845, ^^""^ ^s her 
captain, Frederick Engle, was a Chester-born man, the peo- 
ple of the town in large numbers had gathered at the 
wharves and along the water side to see her pass and give 
the noted National ship God's speed on her voyage. Na- 
val men of the day often told of the appearance of the 
Princeton, when later, for the first time, she steamed into 
the port of Vera Cruz, her sails nicely furled, her yards 
squared and the Stars and Stripes at the peak. As she 
burned anthracite coal, no smoke was discern.able from her 
stack, which was so short that it was only a trifle above 
her bulwarks, and as a strong wind was blowing, it caused 

20 



her to careen slightly, giving to her, seieii from a distance, 
the appearance of having struck on a reef. Several French 
and Spanish men-of-war were at anchor in the harbor, as 
was the English frigate. Euridyce. Captain Elliott, the 
commander of the latter, observing what he supposed was 
the critical condition of the Princeton — then without knowl- 
edge of the name of the vessel — dispatched an officer to 
acquaint Captain McClurg, commanding the United States 
sloop-of-war John Adams, that an American sailing ship 
had struck on a reef. Before the boat could return, much 
to Elliott's surprise and that of the other foreign naval of- 
ficers, the ship, still careening and without apparent cause 
rapidly drew near and they discovered that it was the 
famous steamship Princeton approaching them. The for- 
eign naval vessels, as the marine wonder glided by, 
greeted her with hearty cheers. 

It was on March 22, 1847, that the Princeton, under 
the command of Engle, took part in the bombardment of 
Vera Cruz and the Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, and it 
was a shot from that vessel which made the first breach in 
the walls of the fortress, of all of which Chester was prop- 
erly proud. 

During the war in the Crimea, he was on duty in the 
Mediterranean and Black Seas and visited the scenes of 
battle. In May, 1861, he was dispatched to the East In- 
dia Station to relieve . Commodore Stribling, whose loy- 
alty was suspected, in command of the flag-shap "Hart- 
ford." Engle journeyed over land from Engiand to Hong 
Kong — It was the days before the Suez Canal, where he 
took command of the vessel, which afterwards became fa- 
mous in our national history under Farragut — and brought 
it safely home to Philadelphia in December 1861. He also 
brought with him the sloop "John Adams," 20 guns, and 
the steam sloop, Dacofah, six guns. Subsequently he was 
in command of the "Wabash." The 47 years of active 
service in the Navy began to press hard on him and on De- 
cember I, 1 86 1, he was placed on the retired list as Cap- 
tain. July 10, 1862, he was made Commodore on the re- 
tired list and in 1867 Rear Admiral. He died suddenly 
in Philadelphia, February 12, 1868, aged 69 years. 



21 



. REAR ADMIRAL CROSBY. 

Rear Admiral Pierce Crosby was born at Chester, 
January i6. 1824, entering the Navy June 5, 1838, as a 
midshipman, and in 1844 became a passed midshipman 
and in tliat grade served with distinction in the Mexican 
AVar in the sloop-of-war Decatur. ' He was promoted to 
heutenant in 1853, ^^""^^ held that rank in 1861, when he 
was on duty in Chesapeake Bay and the Sounds of North 
Carolina, being complimented by General Butler for his 
conduct at the capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark. In 
April. 1862, he was in command of the gunboat "Piiiola," 
and during the night of the 23d, that vessel and the "Itas- 
ca," (Adams, in his "Farragut and Other Great Command- 
ers" says "under his valiant officers, Crosby and Cald- 
well," contrived to reach the chain across the Mississippi 
undiscoA-ered and broke it. This left a channel way to the 
fort.) led the fleet when Farragut determined to run by 
Forts Jackson and St. Philip and passed through the chain 
barrier which the Confederates had stretched across the 
Mississippi at these forts. He was present at the capture 
of New Orleans, April 25, 1862, and when Farragut and 
his fleet ran the batteries at Vicksburg, June 30th, 1862, 
and returned fifteen days later, Crosby in command of the 
"Pinola," shared in the glory of that daring act. On Sep- 
tember 13, 1862, he was promoted to commander and ren- 
dered effective service during the year 1863-64 as com- 
mander of the "Florida" and "Keystone State." May 2/, 
1868, he was promoted to captain and in April, 1865, in 
command of the "Metacoinct." he was active in the dan- 
gerous services preceding the capture of Mobile. Rear Ad- 
miral Thatcher, in his despatches of April 12th to the Na\7' 
Department, said : "I am much indebted to Captain Cros- 
b}-, who has been untiring in freeing the Blakeley River of 
torpedoes, ha\'ing succeeded in removing one hundred and 
fifty — a service demanding coolness, judgment and perse- 
verance." In 1872 he was in command of the frigate 
"Poz^'liattan" and in 1878 was ordered to the Navy Yard 
at League Island, retaining command there until 1881. He 
was promoted Rear Admiral March 10, 1882, and retired 
on his own application, October, 1883. Admiral Pierce 
Crosby died at Washington, D. C. 

22 



LIEUTENA'NT FERDINAND PIPER. 

Ferdinand Piper, born at Chester in 1812, was 
appointed a midshipman in U. S. Navy November i, 1827; 
passed midshipman, June 10, 1833: promoted Lieutenant, 
December 9, 1839; drowned at sea, October 28, 1844. His 
death was heroic, for he sacrificed his life to save the hves 
of his men under his command. A boat in his charge was 
upset at sea. The whole party clinging to the capsized 
boat caused it repeatedly to sink beneath them. Lieutenant 
Piper ordered the men to hold on to the boat until rescued, 
and then said: "Good-bye, lads," loosened his grip, and 
after a brief struggle to support himself in the water, he 
sank beneath the waves, giving his young life to save those 
of the common sailors. John Hill Martin, in commenting 
on this incident, says: "I have no fitting words to_ charac- 
terize, as it deserves, this act of sublime courage, this proud 
instinct of an officer's duty to those under his command." 
(History of Chester, p. 269.) 

The Upland Union published the following local: 
''Died. On the 28th of Oct. 1844, in the Bay of Pensa- 
cola. in the 32nd year of his age, Lt. Ferdiiiand Piper, of 
the U. S. Navy, youngest son of Joseph and Sarah Piper, 
deceased, late of the Borough of Chester. 

"Death has thus within a few months deprived the 
Borough of Chester of two esteemed and highly respected 
citizens and officers of the Navy, creating deep grief m 
the hearts of their relatives and friends that time alone can 
assuage. Mr. Piper was deservedly beloved by his rela- 
tives, friends and brother officers, for the urbanity of his 
manners and the goodness of his heart." 

Another account says: Piper had left the frigate 
"Falmouth," in a cutter designing to bring supplies to the 
ship. When about midway to the landing a sudden flaw 
of wind struck the boat and before sail could be shortened 
she was overturned. All the men were encouraged by the 
good conduct and presence of mind of Lieut. Piper, and 
were clinging to the overturned boat, when a heavy sea 
washed Piper, Professor Wm. S, Fox, and six of the 
seamen away and they were lost. The schooner "Otter" 
rescued the survivors that evening, 

23 



SURGEON SAMUEL ANDERSON. 

Dr. Samuel Anderson, born in 1773, was ap- 
pointed by President Adams Surgeon's Mate in the Navy 
and a month later was commissioned surgeon and assigned 
to duty under Captain David Porter, a personal friend. 
After several years' sea service, by reason of ill health he 
was granted indefinite sick leave. In 181 1 he was made 
Lieut. Colonel of the iiith Pennsylvania Militia and dur- 
ing the War of 181 2, recruited a company of volunteers 
from the neighborhood of Chester, known as the Mifflin 
Guards. He was elected to the Legislature in 181 3 and again 
in 1816, i8i7and 1818. In 1819 he was commissioned sheriff 
of the county. He was recalled to active duty in 1823 and 
assigned to the West India squadron, commanded by Com- 
modore Porter, who was then engaged in ridding the Gulf 
of pirates. He was surgeon of the ship "Hornet," and 
later of the "Decoy," stationed at Matanzas, Cuba. His 
health again failing, he returned tO' Delaware county, and 
in 1825 was again elected to the Legislature, and the fol- 
lowing year to Congress. While serving in the latter ca- 
pacity, Porter applied to the Department to have him as- 
signed as surgeon of his squadron, but as Porter shortly 
after quarrelled with the Navy Department and resigned 
from the service, Alnderson was not ordered to report for 
duty. He was elected to the Legislature again in 1829. 31, 
2,2, 33 and during the session of 1834 was the Speaker of 
the House, all of which must sound very queer to the naval 
officers of to-day. 

Midshipman James Anderson, son of Dr. Sam- 
uel Anderson, a promising young officer of the Navy, died 
in 1840, while on a visit to his father. 

BRIGADIER GENERAL HENRY CLAY COCHRANE 

General Cochrane w^as born in Chester Novem- 
ber 7, 1842, and was appointed by President Lincoln a 
second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and passed the en- 
tering examination August 29, 1861, but his age being un- 
der twenty, precluded him from being commissioned. He 
was, therefore, appointed a Master's IMate until old enough 

24 



to qualify. He served under Admirals Goldsborough, Dn- 
pont and Farragut until March lo, 1863, when he was 
confirmed by the Senate. He was in the battle of Port 
Royal S. C, on his nineteenth birthday, and during the 
following forty years served in the Gulf and Mississippi 
squadron at the Naval Academy. War colleges, most of the 
Navy Yards of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts ; also in Alas- 
ka. Hawaii, Mexico. Central and South America, Europe, 
Asia, Africa, Oceanica, China and the Philippines. He 
has spent fifteen years at sea, cruising in ships from the old 
sailing ship Jamestonm to the modern flagship Philadelphia. 
Helped to suppress the Labor Riots in 1877 and arson and 
pillage abroad in Alexandria, Egypt, after the bombardmeni 
of that city by the English in 1882: also on the Isthmus of 
Panama in 1885. Was present at the coronation of the 
Czar Alexander HI., in Moscow, and decorated with the ' 
Cross of the Legion of Honor by President Camot, of 
France, for services at the Universal Exposition of 1889, 
at Paris, where he commanded a detachment of U. S. Ma- 
rines. During the war with Spain, he was Major of the 
famous Marine Battalion, which held the heights of Guanta- 
namo, Cuba, and was detailed as Governor of the City_ of 
Manzanielo; was sent to China in 1900. when the foreign 
Legations were besieged in Pekin. in which remarkable 
campaign his regiment lost a captain and over thirty men. 
From China he went to Manila and organized and com- 
manded the First Brigade of Marines and was appointed 
Military Governor of the Peninsula of Cavite. Returned to 
the United States, commanded the Marine Barracks at 
Portsmouth. N. H., and League Island. Pa., and after a 
short tour of duty in St. Louis. Mo., retired upon his own 
application after forty years' service, March 10, 1905. 

LIEUTENANT SAMUEL EDWARDS. 

Lieutenant Samuel Edwards, of Chester, _ was 
warranted a midshipman in the Navy in 1838, passing a 
most creditable examination. He was promoted to Lieuten- 
ant and during the Mexican War was at the bombardment 
of Vera Cruz in the "Princeton," and was attached to the 
battery which first made a breach in the walls. He served 

25 



for a time in the "Cyaiic" during the Walker filibustering 
expedition and then on the Great Lakes. He married in 
Erie, Prussia, and died there March 22, 1861, aged 39 
years. 

COMMANDER DE HAVEN MANLY. 

Commander DeHaven Manly, son of Charles D. 
Manly, a prominent lawyer of the Delaware County Bar, 
was bom in Chester, December 20, 1839, and entered the 
United States Navy September 25, 1856. 

His first orders were to the "Brooklyn/' to assist 
in surveying the Chinqui lagoon. Isthmus of Panama. The 
breaking out of the Civil War found him still on the 
"Brooklyn" at the reinforcement of Fort Pickens and the 
first blockading vessel off the entrance to New Orleans. He 
was made prize master of her first prize which he took to 
Key West, where there was an Admiralty Court. He served 
next in the "Crusade' for a short time and then in the frig- 
ate "Congress" commanchng a division of guns in the 
memorable action between the Monitor and Mcrriniac, at 
Hampton Roads, in which he was slightly wounded. He 
was promoted to lientenant July 16, 1862, and in the 
"Canandaigua," was engaged in all the fights with Forts 
Simiter, Wagner and Moultrie. From the "Canandaigua" 
he went to the "State of Georgia " and in her carried the 
news North of the evacuation of Charleston. He next ap- 
pears as executive officer of the monitor "Canonicus" in 
which he went to Havana to seize the Rebel ironclad "Stone- 
wall." Yle was promoted Lieut. Commander in July, 1886, 
and commander, 1874. As commander he took the Ranges to 
the Asiatic station via the Suez Canal and came home in 
the Alert, in 1879, and was on duty in the Navy Depart- 
ment on account of loss of hearing he was retired in 1883, 
and later died. 

COMMANDER EDWAiRDS F. LEIPER. 

Commander Edwards F. Lei per, ?nn of John 
C. Lei per, was born near Chester and entered the Naval 
Academy June 25, 1875. Graduated and promoted to En- 

26 



sign June, 1884. Served on coast survey steamer "Argo," 
special service in the Dolphin, on the "Concord," Asiatic 
station, and "Monterey." Promoted to Lieutenant, Nov- 
ember 1896, and spent two years at the Naval Academy, 
training ship Essex to 1901, and a year at the League Isl- 
and Navy Yard. Promoted Lieut. Comn^iander October i, 
1902, and on the "Detroit" from 1903. 

Retired on his OAvn application after 30 years' service 
and is now superintendent of the Episcopal Hospital, Phil- 
adelphia. 



COMMANDER W. H. G. BULLARD. 

Commander William H. G. Bullard, appointed 
Naval cadet September 28, 1882, from Delaware county, 
was promoted to Ensign July i, 1888; to Lieutenant, 
March 3, 1899; to Lieutenant Commander and to Com- 
mander in 1909. Has seen service in the Bureau of Equip- 
ment, alx)ard of the Nezcark, Lancaster, Columbia, Monon- 
gahela, Princeton, and three times at the Naval Academy. 
Still in service. 



WAR VESSELS BUILT AT CHESTER. 

To show that Chester has contributed to the material 
as well as to the personnel of the Navy, it must be said that 
so far back as war times in 1863 and 1864, there were built 
here the side-wheelers "Wateree" and "SJiamokin," the 
iron-clads "Tunxis," "Lehigh" and "Sanganwn," and the 
screw propeller tugs "Nina" and "Purita," by Reaney, Son 
and Archbold. Since 1871, when John Roach and his son, 
John B. Roach, took charge of the shipyard t hey have 
turned out successively the "Huron" and "Alert" in 1874, 
the "Miantonomah," 1876, and "Puritan," 1882, the "Dol- 
phin" "Atlanta," "Boston" and "Chicago," of the first 
White Squadron, in 1884, and the "Concord" and "Ben- 
nington'' in 1890, and the "Sylph" in 1898. The "Huron" 
was wrecked on the coast of North Carolina, but all of the 
rest of the Roach built ships are on the Navy list of to-day 

27 



and available for service, as is the "Relief," which was 
the "John Englis." 

In addition to these vessels this yard has given to the 
merchant marine over twO' hundred steamers such as the 
"City of Peking," which has been running in the Trans- 
Pacific trade for thirty-five years; the "Colon" and "Col- 
inia" even older; the "City of Sydney" "Niagara" "Sara- 
toga" and "Vigilancia," and the "Pilgrim" "Puritan" and 
"Priscilla," palatial boats of the Fall River Line. The yard 
is now closed and has been for about two years and in the 
hands of a receiver, but it will long live upon its former 
glories. 




28 



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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



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